hn36.

the periods between entries are slowly increasing in length, so i think its about time i get back to writing. i miss it, mostly because it makes me feel like all ofyou who read this are participating somehow, that you are all here with me to help me through this journey. and yeah, peace corps is one hell of a journey, and its definitely true that we all need someone to let loose with. in this case, its you guys.

but the hard part this time is that there is little for me to say. lately i have been spending a lot of time getting to finally know the town that i live in. i've been here 5 months, and when i thought i knew everyone, now that has all be thrown out the window. and now i wont be so foolish. it weird seeing a place change all around you, but still say the same. it's like what people say about reality sometimes, trying to reference the matrix or any other attempt at trying to shatter our concepts of existence: the world we see is in our minds, imposed there by a serious of neuron connections. i know thats a cliché but still, i thought i'd put it out there. capucas hasn't changed per se, but i have, and now the people i felt like i knew, i now see them for who they are. and the funny thing is that probably in a few months, i will repeat this whole shpiel again. the most amazing aspect of this transformation is that i feel that much closer to my fellow capuqueños. i visit their homes, dring coffee with them, chat about the farms, about livestock, about politics. i know their families, play soccer with the little kids. and now, i am learning about their individual struggles, their poverty, their hopes and aspirations. i am beggining to feel more responsible for these new friends of mine.

its also giving me new ideas for projects, things that i hadn't thought about earlier because i was so isolated in my cooperative. i am starting to think about a scholarship program that we might be able to set up with some generous outside funding in order to send some really poor community children to school. this money would go towards book, school supply, uniform purchase and of course, in the case of secondary education, tuition. i think it would be cool to structure it like a financial aid system, where the child who recieves the funding will then have to pay it back as a percentage after getting a job. that way other children could take advantage of the same opportunities. if anyone has any ideas on how this could be done, let me know. i will keep brainstorming in the meanwhile.

in other news, the horse is good, i've been riding him a whole lot, although i have only been doing that instead of training, so i will have to stop having fun for a bit and train some necessary behavior. slowly but surely however, he is becoming more manageable, and i have done a few long trips with him and without any problems. i have to keep in mind that he's only 2 years old, so i have to cut him some slack.

i have also begun to take weekends off from community life, and his has definitely given me back some of the energy i was missing. life here can get you so caught up in work that its easy to forget that sanity is more important than success.

anyway, thats all i can think of for now. hit me up with ideas if you want. miss you all.